Link to join the conference at 15:00 today
Internet-based services are about to see their world undergo a sea change. New EU regulation is in the offing, in the shape of the new Digital Services Act Package which aims at modernising the current legal framework for digital services. But what will be the impact of this legislative proposal on the audiovisual sector?
High time to zoom into what this new legislative package proposes and so the European Audiovisual Observatory is inviting you to a first look at the new Digital Services Act Package in this free online conference. The conference is the seventh edition of the Observatory’s traditional "Brussels series" of events taking place annually in the Belgian capital. For obvious reasons this year's event is taking place online on Thursday 11 February from 15.00 to 17.00 Brussels/Paris time. Registration is free by clicking on the link above.
In terms of the timeframe of this new legislation, a public consultation was launched in 2019 and dealt with themes such as the protection and safety of online users, the liability of "gatekeeper" digital services, online advertising and the reinforcement of the Digital Single Market. The two new Regulation proposals contained in the proposed legislative package, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), were published on 15 December 2020. So 2021 should see the European Parliament and the Member States discuss the Commission's proposals in the ordinary legislative procedure.
The Observatory's Executive Director, Susanne Nikoltchev, stated that "Europe has reached a key moment in the preparation of this new regulatory package." She felt the Observatory conference would offer "an expert forum for a first deep analysis of what the consequences for the European audiovisual sector may be."
The Observatory will provide a scene-setting overview and then more detailed discussions with selected experts and exchanges with our audience will follow.
All journalists are most welcome to join us. The working language is English.
Meet our expert panel
Joan Barata, Stanford Law School
Joan Barata is an international expert in freedom of expression, freedom of information and media regulation. As a scholar, he has spoken and done extensive research in these areas, working and collaborating with various universities and academic centres, from Asia to Africa and America, authoring papers, articles and books, and addressing specialized Parliament committees. He was Principal Adviser to the Representative on Freedom of the Media at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as Secretary General of the Catalan Audio-Visual Council in Spain, while also being a member of the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities. As an international expert, Joan has provided advice to international organizations, NGOs, Governments, legislators and regulators in most regions of the world, including Africa, Asia and Latin America. Joan spends most of his time leaping from one continent to the other, having one constant in the ever-changing landscape: his awesome kid in Barcelona.
Richard Burnley, European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
Richard Burnley joined the EBU in 2010, he was subsequently appointed Head of Legal Regulatory Services in 2012 before taking the position of Legal Director on 1st July 2016.
Prior to joining the EBU, Richard was a Senior Legal Advisor at the Office of Communications (the UK media and telecommunications regulator) and before that, an Associate in the EU & Competition Department of a global law firm in Brussels and London.
He also worked at DG Competition of the European Commission. Richard studied law at King's College, London University and at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He holds a PhD in EU law from the European University Institute in Florence.
Francisco Javier CABRERA BLÁZQUEZ, European Audiovisual Observatory
Francisco Javier Cabrera Blázquez is a Legal Analyst in the Department for Legal Information of the European Audiovisual Observatory and Deputy Editor of IRIS – Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory. He began his legal training at the University of Castilla-la Mancha and went on to obtain a further qualification (LL.M. in German Law) at the Institute for European Law of the University of Saarland, where he specialised notably in Intellectual Property Law.
Maja CAPPELLO, European Audiovisual Observatory
Maja Cappello joined the European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, as Head of the Department for Legal Information in 2014. Set up in December 1992, the Observatory's mission is to gather and diffuse information on the audiovisual industry in its 41 member states. Since June 2020 she is also member of the Advisory Board of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).
Before joining the Observatory, Maja Cappello worked for the Italian regulator AGCOM from 1998 and was Head of AGCOM’s Digital Rights Unit of the Media Services Directorate. She was also Vice President of EPRA (European Platform of Regulatory Authorities) from 2011 to 2014.
Mark Cole, University of Luxemburg, Director for Academic Affairs, EMR
Since January 2015, Mark D. Cole is Professor for Media and Telecommunication Law at the University of Luxembourg, where he previously was Associate Professor for the Law of the New Information Technologies, Media and Communications Law since 2007. He is also Course Director for the Master in Space, Communication and Media Law (LL.M.) and Faculty Member of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). Since July 2014, he holds an additional position as Director for Academic Affairs at the Institute of European Media Law (EMR, Saarbrücken/Berlin/Brussels).
Celene Craig, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI)
Celene Craig is Deputy Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and was previously Chairperson of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) until May 2019. A significant dimension of her work has been her involvement in the formulation and implementation of a range of broadcasting-related policies. In recent years, she has also had responsibility for the remit and financing aspects of the regulation of public service broadcasters in Ireland. She is an active participant in European fora on audiovisual policy matters.
Pauline DURAND-VIALLE, FERA - Federation of European Screen Directors
Originally from Paris, France, Pauline Durand-Vialle has worked in film distribution and international sales. She joined FERA - Federation of European Screen Directors from her previous position as Deputy Manager in charge of European Affairs at La Société des réalisateurs de films (SRF), where she worked for five years. She is the Chief Executive of FERA since February 2014.
Miriam Estrin, Google
Miriam Estrin is Policy Manager at Google, focused on access to information and content regulation around the world. She previously worked at the U.S. Department of State as Policy Director in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, as a policy advisor in the Office of the Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations, and as special assistant to the President's Special Envoy to Sudan; and at the Brookings Institution in Foreign Policy Studies.
Miriam has degrees from The University of Texas at Austin and Yale Law School.
Miruna Herovanu, Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT)
Miruna has several years working in Brussels on intellectual property, digital and media policy. She has joined ACT after working for European press publishers for the last three years. Prior to that she had worked as an assistant in the European Parliament and for several years in the Romanian Senate. Miruna is a lawyer, has a Masters in European Law and a bachelor-in-Law from the University of Bucharest.
Susanne Nikoltchev, European Audiovisual Observatory
Dr Susanne Nikoltchev took office as Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory in July 2013. Prior thereto she was the Observatory's Head of Department for Legal Information and editor in chief of all its legal publications (since 1998).
She has been a media, telecoms, international trade and EU competition lawyer associated with the American law firm of Covington & Burling (1995-1998).
As a member of the bars of Germany and Washington D.C., she has worked in private practice in Germany, the United States and Belgium with particular exposure to audiovisual issues on the international and European level as well as on the national level.
Martin Senftleben, University of Amsterdam, Director of IViR
Martin Senftleben has been appointed professor of Information Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam effective 1 February 2020. Prior to that, Senftleben was professor of Intellectual Property at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 2007. At the same time, Senftleben also worked as a lawyer at Bird & Bird. His activities focus on primary and secondary markets for information products, the regulation of business models on these markets through intellectual property rights, and the resulting balance between intellectual property rights and limitations serving social, cultural and economic needs. Current research topics concern trademark law and the preservation of the public domain, the liability of online platforms for the infringement of trademark rights, the introduction of flexible fair use copyright limitations and the enforcement of copyright in the digital environment.